Liam's POVClaire's hands gripped my arm tightly as she helped keep me upright while the helicopter lights swept across the building facades around us like searchlights hunting for prey.The beams seamlessly shined through the darkness illuminating windows and rooftops where someone had just been shooting at us moments ago.I forced myself to look toward where I thought the sniper shots had come from but the rooftop was empty now with no sign of anyone ever being there.Then the police sirens started wailing in the distance getting louder as they approached our location.The sound made me lose touch of reality because I knew what was coming next meant lying to people who were supposed to be protecting us. I turned to Claire who was still holding onto me like she was afraid I'd collapse if she let go."Don't mention anything about what really happened here tonight." My voice came out rough. "Not a word about who might have been shooting or why."Claire nodded without hesitation even tho

Liam's POVI tightened my hand around the phone as Vincent's words sank in. "What do you mean all the documents are gone?""Everything we had on Charles. Every file and every piece of physical evidence." Vincent's voice was strained. "The safe was opened professionally. There was no forced entry. So, whoever did this knew exactly what they were looking for.""When did this happen?""Security says between 11PM and midnight based on when the alarm system was briefly disabled." He paused. "I'm reviewing the footage now. Get here as soon as you can."I hung up then looked at Elijah who'd heard enough of the conversation to understand what happened. "We need to go to the safehouse right now.""I'll drive," Elijah said while grabbing his keys.Claire was waiting in the car when we came downstairs so she drove us to the safehouse on the north side while I tried to figure out who could have pulled this off.The location was supposed to be secret. Only family members knew where we stored the e

Liam's POVThe ambulance arrived within six minutes but those six minutes felt like hours while I held Sarah's wrist checking for a pulse that kept getting weaker.The paramedics took over immediately loading her onto a stretcher then rushing her into the vehicle.I climbed in after them despite one paramedic saying only family was allowed."I'm all she has," I said which wasn't exactly true but he didn't argue.They worked on her during the drive to the hospital pumping her stomach then administering medications I didn't recognize.Her vitals were crashing according to the monitors while her heart rate was dangerously low.The lead paramedic kept saying things like "come on" and "stay with us" which told me how bad this was.At the hospital they rushed her into emergency treatment while I waited in a hallway answering questions from doctors about what she'd ingested. I told them about the water bottle, how she'd been fine until she drank from it, and how quickly the symptoms appeare

Liam's POVI stared at the screen trying to make sense of what Vivian was showing us. "That doesn't make any sense. Nathan can't gain shares he doesn't have in a company he has no stake in.""You're thinking too directly." Vivian pulled up another email. "Nathan isn't trying to own shares. He's trying to create enough legal chaos that ownership becomes irrelevant during the investigation.""What kind of legal chaos?""He's going to make accusations about how you acquired the company in the first place." She scrolled through the emails. "He'll claim you coerced Claire into signing over ownership. That you used blackmail or threats. That the transfer of ownership was fraudulent from the start."Claire moved closer to the screen. "But that's not true. Liam never coerced me into anything.""Truth doesn't matter when you're facing a fraud investigation." Vivian announced. "Once Nathan makes the accusation the authorities have to investigate. That means freezing all company assets until the

Liam's POVTwo days later… To get all these fixed up, the first place we had in mind was Charles…That means we needed to deal with the elephant in the room, so we did just that and went to Charles's company.It was forty floors of glass and steel rising above the city.The lobby was already full despite the early hour. I was surprised to see wedding guests mingling near the elevators wearing formal clothes that looked wrong against the corporate backdrop of marble floors and security desks.Board members clustered in small groups pretending to make small talk while actually sizing up the room.Servers moved between them carrying champagne flutes on silver trays…Claire walked beside me.She hadn't spoken since we left the hospital. The drive over had been forty minutes of silence broken only by the sound of the city outside the windows.The leather portfolio under my arm contained everything — Real bank records, forged document comparisons, Nathan's emails, the voice recording of C